Author - Sydney Gunn
Life has been interesting the last couple of weeks. I am trying to continue to nail down a good set of routines, but I am struggling to do so. If you know me well, this is not my normal. I tend to live by my morning routine of coffee and a workout followed by a nightly walk and tea. In many ways this “letting go of a structured life” has been good but also hard. On top of that my heart is weighing heavy regarding what I am going to do after this program and how I can currently be preparing for what is to come. God is continuing to work in my heart by “being” with Him rather than “doing.” It is a concept I am continuing to struggle to yield to. My performance mindset is in overdrive and I feel that I want to be on my way with life by now. The other day we got to meet one of Arlie’s friends and he shared an important reminder for me. He reminded us that this year of our lives would not be a waste, that we were learning things here that will impact us for a lifetime. I can say that I would definitely agree - I am learning how to lay down my ways for the sake of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am learning to have a humble spirit, a willing attitude, and informing my character rather than reacting. I am learning about the scope of the whole Bible and understanding how to love on others in hard situations. My prideful self thought, I already knew how to walk out the Christian life going into this program. And yes I may have intellectually known certain things, but deep down I may not have known where my heart was at with walking out these truths of the Bible. I had many great friends back home who exhorted me, but I never fully took what they had to say to heart. Now by God’s kind grace the Holy Spirit is guiding me in these lessons of my character, serving others, and having a humble spirit.
As I continue to let go of wanting to have a perfect plan for each day and simultaneously having a perfect plan for what is ahead in life, I am learning more and more about the importance of walking with God daily. Through the act of loving others sacrificially and walking by the Holy Spirit I am starting to grow in my understanding of what it means to abide in Christ. The word abide means to dwell or remain. When we dwell with God we are aware of his conscious presence in our lives. With this in mind we are to continually live by the power of the Holy Spirit. We abide in Christ when we draw from the Holy Spirit as we sit, be in, and are sustained by the love of God. Essentially we are motived and controlled by the love of God. Out of this love of God we are then stirred to love others with the same love. Being a disciple of Jesus has become a large multifaceted aspect I now have a hard time unraveling. A disciple is more than just someone who is seeking to follow Christ, this is a committed follower of Christ who is led by the Holy Spirit, obedient to Christ, characterized by his love for others, and willing to sacrifice and to serve. These aspects can easily become check boxes that we seek to check off a list in order to “please the Lord.” Rather than having a check box faith we are to be led by the power of the Holy Spirit, this results in ensuring our motives are pure.
Trying to determine if the Holy Spirit is prompting me comes from me and my relationship with Christ being solid. I have found that for so long I have not been trusting in the Lord with what He has ahead for me, as a result it has made it difficult for me to be fully led by the Holy Spirit. I am finding that spiritual disciplines are what lead us to abiding in Christ as we walk by the spirit. I have recently been intrigued by silence and solitude. In my free time I have been listening to podcasts by “Practicing the Way” as I grow in my understanding of this spiritual practice. While it has taken some time for me to implement I am truly seeing the benefit of pausing and just BEING with God. Our world is so engulfed in technology and busyness today, I am doing my best to take a step away and recognize that there is beauty here in the mundane here and now. It is the exact opposite of what I am wanting to “do,” but in my “being” with God I am finding so much more clarity through the Holy Spirit.
In all these things - learning to walk by the Holy Spirit, understanding how to be a disciple of Christ, and living in silence in solitude - I am seeing that God just wants a relationship with me. Each aspect of the Christian life builds on one another. As I seek the Lord through silence and solitude I start to experience more of the Holy Spirit. As I experience more of the Holy Spirit I see the true meaning of what it means to abide, and ultimately what it looks like to become a stronger disciple of Jesus.
My prayer for you this week is that you would take time to be still, and listen to the Holy Spirit in your life. What is God teaching you? How can you lean in to His way?
Life has been interesting the last couple of weeks. I am trying to continue to nail down a good set of routines, but I am struggling to do so. If you know me well, this is not my normal. I tend to live by my morning routine of coffee and a workout followed by a nightly walk and tea. In many ways this “letting go of a structured life” has been good but also hard. On top of that my heart is weighing heavy regarding what I am going to do after this program and how I can currently be preparing for what is to come. God is continuing to work in my heart by “being” with Him rather than “doing.” It is a concept I am continuing to struggle to yield to. My performance mindset is in overdrive and I feel that I want to be on my way with life by now. The other day we got to meet one of Arlie’s friends and he shared an important reminder for me. He reminded us that this year of our lives would not be a waste, that we were learning things here that will impact us for a lifetime. I can say that I would definitely agree - I am learning how to lay down my ways for the sake of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am learning to have a humble spirit, a willing attitude, and informing my character rather than reacting. I am learning about the scope of the whole Bible and understanding how to love on others in hard situations. My prideful self thought, I already knew how to walk out the Christian life going into this program. And yes I may have intellectually known certain things, but deep down I may not have known where my heart was at with walking out these truths of the Bible. I had many great friends back home who exhorted me, but I never fully took what they had to say to heart. Now by God’s kind grace the Holy Spirit is guiding me in these lessons of my character, serving others, and having a humble spirit.
As I continue to let go of wanting to have a perfect plan for each day and simultaneously having a perfect plan for what is ahead in life, I am learning more and more about the importance of walking with God daily. Through the act of loving others sacrificially and walking by the Holy Spirit I am starting to grow in my understanding of what it means to abide in Christ. The word abide means to dwell or remain. When we dwell with God we are aware of his conscious presence in our lives. With this in mind we are to continually live by the power of the Holy Spirit. We abide in Christ when we draw from the Holy Spirit as we sit, be in, and are sustained by the love of God. Essentially we are motived and controlled by the love of God. Out of this love of God we are then stirred to love others with the same love. Being a disciple of Jesus has become a large multifaceted aspect I now have a hard time unraveling. A disciple is more than just someone who is seeking to follow Christ, this is a committed follower of Christ who is led by the Holy Spirit, obedient to Christ, characterized by his love for others, and willing to sacrifice and to serve. These aspects can easily become check boxes that we seek to check off a list in order to “please the Lord.” Rather than having a check box faith we are to be led by the power of the Holy Spirit, this results in ensuring our motives are pure.
Trying to determine if the Holy Spirit is prompting me comes from me and my relationship with Christ being solid. I have found that for so long I have not been trusting in the Lord with what He has ahead for me, as a result it has made it difficult for me to be fully led by the Holy Spirit. I am finding that spiritual disciplines are what lead us to abiding in Christ as we walk by the spirit. I have recently been intrigued by silence and solitude. In my free time I have been listening to podcasts by “Practicing the Way” as I grow in my understanding of this spiritual practice. While it has taken some time for me to implement I am truly seeing the benefit of pausing and just BEING with God. Our world is so engulfed in technology and busyness today, I am doing my best to take a step away and recognize that there is beauty here in the mundane here and now. It is the exact opposite of what I am wanting to “do,” but in my “being” with God I am finding so much more clarity through the Holy Spirit.
In all these things - learning to walk by the Holy Spirit, understanding how to be a disciple of Christ, and living in silence in solitude - I am seeing that God just wants a relationship with me. Each aspect of the Christian life builds on one another. As I seek the Lord through silence and solitude I start to experience more of the Holy Spirit. As I experience more of the Holy Spirit I see the true meaning of what it means to abide, and ultimately what it looks like to become a stronger disciple of Jesus.
My prayer for you this week is that you would take time to be still, and listen to the Holy Spirit in your life. What is God teaching you? How can you lean in to His way?
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